Elite

Leyla's three month trial in Elite is nearly ended. Time flew like the wind raging between the trees. Just yesterday it was the beginning of October... Nine weeks went by in a frenzy of school and training for her and in a battle to understand for me.

Leyla only started gymnastics in July, when she was just a baby. A baby that went to school, but only a little baby, still cuddly, still slightly chubby. Gymnastics was meant to be just a way for my girls to do something healthy. In only 5 short months it became a dream, a life...

When she said without a shadow of doubt that she will be the second Nadia Comaneci, I did not believe her. I smiled, encouraged her by saying that as long as she really wants it everything is possible, but I did not take her seriously. I thought she is just a little child talking. At her age I dreamed of being a painter. Or a doctor. And while I still paint once in a rare blue moon, while I still sometimes heal, I am not a painter or a doctor. But she is a gymnast. Maybe she is not the second Nadia yet, but she surely started on the right foot.

When only a week after starting she was in Pre-Levels, I thought that she will stay there for a year or so... Eight week later she was in an Elite program, for a three months trial... Are only 9 weeks since the school term started... And now she is accepted into Elite on a permanent base...

This time around, I knew she will. I heard her coach praising her enough to know. And yet, I still feel my heart swelling and my head spinning... Where in the world will i find the 10 000$ a year? Is it the best thing for my daughter? Will she be happy? Can I keep up?

But I guess that it is out of my hands and I'll just have to really get used to it... And I am so proud of her! My tiny little baby that became so grown up in only 5 short months!